Channel 4 recruited five people with communication difficulties to join their continuity team in December. “An estimated 2.5 million people in the UK have some kind of communication impairment. We want to give them a platform and normalise the presence of disabled people on TV by adding fresh, representative voices to the rich diversity of our existing pool of announcers.” Find out more about the campaign and read our guest post from one of the announcers.

Claire Koch from America got the internet smiling when she was filmed enthusiastically signing for her deaf parents during her school Christmas carol performance so that they could fully enjoy it. The film has now been viewed by over 6.3 million people.

Jack Carroll, a 14 year old with cerebral palsy, made it all the way to the Britain’s Got Talent final with his unique stand-up comedy style. Unfortunately he didn’t win, but with over 7.1 million views, we’re sure he has a great future in comedy ahead of him.

Pro Infirmis, a Swiss disability advocacy organisation created this video showing disabled mannequins as part of their campaign for International Day for People with Disabilities. This beautiful video has received over 8.4 million views.

I had seen the Pro Infirmis video (which we loved) and the Guinness Ad (which we all absolutely hated) but not the others. When disability is cute (signing kids) or inspirational (athletes or CP comics) my daughter says she feels the pressure increase for her to be extraordinary. To be just “ordinary” and yet disabled is the challenge. That may be why I loved the Channel 4 announcements the most. The Scope blog inspires and informs me and as the mother of a quadriplegic teenager there is not a day when inspiration is not needed. Thanks Scope folks. .